SA Police should stop violence on the #unarmed Innocent

On Monday 10 October 2016 a Priest, Fr. Graham Pugin SJ, was shot in the face at close range by South African Police Service (SAPS) with rubber bullets on Church property in Braamfontein. Students of the #fees2017 #feesmustfall WITS (University of the Witwatersrand) ran to the Church property to seek sanctuary when cops were firing at them.

Fr. Graham's only plea to the police was they should not provoke the students by firing at the unarmed students. The police forcefully closed one of the gates of the church and claimed they were guarding the university property. They were told that the church is private property and Fr. Graham said he will continue to open the gates to the students who seek refuge.

What is the duty of the police when unarmed students are not on university property and are not disrupting lectures nor destroying the property? On what grounds is an unarmed person standing on supposedly their own property shot? Fr. Graham had every right to prevent police from entry on Church Premises. He was just doing what he thought was his moral obligation to provide a safe space to students. SAPS shot an unarmed person at close range in the face and simply drove off, this is a sign of irresponsibility.

This is a call to the Head of Police to stop unnecessary use of force and violence on innocent harmless people and students. The police should not inflict injury to people while doing their duties. Police should be more responsible and held accountable to their actions. This is a struggle that all students face throughout South Africa and it must be put to an end. This is an unarmed struggle. No one is justified to use violence neither should you.